Oceanside: One mission, plenty of piers and some famous avocados

Tourists enjoying a sunset at Oceanside Pier, one of five local piers with a unique flair to explore in San Diego. U-T File Photo

Tourists enjoying a sunset at Oceanside Pier, one of five local piers with a unique flair to explore in San Diego. U-T File Photo ((Nelvin C. Cepeda / UT San Diego / Twitter @NelCep))

History: Originally populated by Native Americans, Oceanside became the site of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in 1798. Hearing through the grapevine that a railroad was on its way, shopkeeper Andrew Jackson Meyers got a homestead grant of 160-plus acres in the mid 1880s and subdivided the land into the community that would become the city. The railroads brought visitors and homebuyers. Piers were built, lost to storms and built again. World War II brought the construction of Camp Pendleton and an influx of military families that continues to this day. The Oceanside Small Craft Harbor was built in the 1960s, giving the city hundreds of boat slips and yet another way to live up to its nautical name.

How it got its name: Families living in the warm inland areas loved to take day trips to the “ocean side,” and the two words eventually merged. The city was incorporated in 1888.

Did you know? Singer/songwriter Jason Mraz owns an avocado farm near State route 76. He bought a home in the hills just outside Oceanside after his 2002 debut record, “Waiting for My Rocket to Come,” sold more than a million copies. Country singer Barbara Mandrell is a former Miss Oceanside.

Things to do: Tour Mission San Luis Rey and have an old-school picnic at Heritage Park. Check out the surf at Oceanside Pier and surf history at the California Surf Museum. Start working on your pirate costume for Oceanside Harbor Days, held every September at the Oceanside Harbor.

San Diego's community almanac presented by the San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego's community almanac presented by the San Diego Union-Tribune